There is one journey which every self-avowed seafood lover in Mumbai must take and that is to head towards Gajalee in Vile Parle and order the tandoori crab. Throw caution (and the wallet) to the winds and order the biggest one available. You do not very much more — maybe a solkadi or a buttermilk. Maybe a bombil — Bombay Duck — fry to fill in the waiting time. And then, this most succulent and sweetest meat of all will take up the rest of your meal.

I have been in the hospitality line for a very long time but haven't worked in the food and beverage department but rather in the management/ operation side of the Taj group, ITC and Fariyas hotel. Being in this field not only gave me an opportunity to experience fine food cooked by some of the best chefs in the hotel industry but also to visit their kitchen to learn some of the best kept recipes. The fact that I enjoy eating good food; the urge for cooking comes very naturally. But I do not cook daily or out of necessity but rather out of choice and interest. I experiment in the kitchen on occasions like when I'm expecting some guests over. I can whip up just about anything from Italian, Indian, Oriental, fusion etc.

Eating at Flag's is a real experience. The quintessential food is mouth-watering, mesmerising, lip-smacking, finger licking (though you don't really get a chance to dig your fingers into the food) and manna for epicureans. What's different with Flag's is that they don't call themselves multi-cuisine and who would if they have cuisines from about 42 nations listed sassily in the elegantly designed menu card. They are a world cuisine restaurant and definitely live up to the name.

8.00 hrs — On Sundays, my day starts late. I am quite fond of reading newspapers and leisurely spend my time scanning all the newspapers, while sipping tea.

10.30 hrs — I laze around in garden checking over the plants and vegetables that I have been growing. Sometimes I sow seeds and water the plants.

11.00 hrs— On Sundays, as a rule I prefer to have breakfast with the whole family. My wife and kids are crazy about the omelettes I prepare and since they want something different, each time I try to prepare them in

various ways.

1.30 hrs— I either keep myself busy with the repairing work around the house or we go for shopping. Sunday is the day when we stock our fridge with the whole week's grocery.

She says less is more.

If she had her way, Deepa Awchat would write on all her experiences of savouring different regions of India — "Not just food, but culture and heritage too," she smiles. For the slim-figured restaurateur has "loads of documentation" collected over her 20-year-old tryst with different cuisines, that goes much beyond her first book that she's just written. A gazetted post with the Customs department, which she gave up along the way for her first love, cooking, holding no regrets for her.

"The pleasure," she smiles, seated at the terrace of her home at Matunga, "Is to present food the way I see it; each dish must have definite ingredients."